180G Upgrade. A TON of weight! Advice please. :)

[puffermike]

My future upgrade within the next 2 years is a 180G tank. I want to get some tips on guys with tanks that are over a ton of weight in a room. Where did you guys put your ocean?

The spot I have picked out is parallel to a bearing wall and directly below is the basement, where on that very bearing wall is the bearing beam and a column. The floor joists are sadly parallel as well though. The tank would sit over 1 of them and maybe two at most depending on the stand.

Using this picture for reference the tank would sit directly above the bearing beam parallel to the wall shown here.

Let me know what you guys with the monster tanks do! My subfloor is not an option. I want this beauty in my living room if possible!

 

[Fishdad1]

Put two of those floor jacks underneath the beam to displace the weight of the tank. They'll hold it no problem. And cheap too at Home Depot.

 

[puffermike]

I was poking around earlier looking at places I could fit them. I found one spot.. I'll search for another. Thanks fishdad!

 

[Steve L]

Depending on what is under that spot in the basement, you could use two or more of those floor jacks that fishdad mentioned and support the floor 2.5 to 3 feet out from the I-beam. The existing beam should easily suppot the weight of the tank, but you might get a little sag in the floor a couple feet out from the wall. A couple jacks under the floor joists would solve that problem. Assuming you have a concrete floor in the basement to support the jacks, just put a piece of steel between the top of the jack and the bottom of the joist.

 

[DaveK]

If possible, see if you can choose a location where the tank is supported by as many floor joists as possible. In most modern construction, you shouldn't need any more support. If that can't be done, then a couple of floor jacks as suggested by others are the best way to go. This is one area where you don't want to have a problem later.

 

[Fishdad1]

It might be a good idea to put maybe a 4 foot 4x4 between the top of the jack and the joists. That way the weight would displace much more across more than one joist. I would also put 4x4s under the jacks too. Your basement floor is "supposed" to be 4 inches of concrete but I have seen it as thin as 2 inches.

 

[Bearjohnson]

It might be a good idea to put maybe a 4 foot 4x4 between the top of the jack and the joists. That way the weight would displace much more across more than one joist. I would also put 4x4s under the jacks too. Your basement floor is "supposed" to be 4 inches of concrete but I have seen it as thin as 2 inches.

The 4x4 is a great idea but I would suggest putting 2- 2x6 or better 2-2x8's together and make what's called a header. They get nailed together and then flipped on end for maximum support.

I personally would not put a 180 on a floor that wasn't supported the by the floor joists going the correct way without adding support from below. It's a recipe for disaster without added support.

 

[Fishdad1]

The 4x4 is a great idea but I would suggest putting 2- 2x6 or better 2-2x8's together and make what's called a header. They get nailed together and then flipped on end for maximum support.

Yep, even better. Mike, just to clarify we are talking about the header going perpendicular to the joists, thus displacing the weight across more than one. Bearjohnson is right on with his reco.

 

[BigAl07]

Honestly there are some issues I see here and you may want to clarify.

In the picture the floor joists are running perpendicular to the bearing wall (which is how it should be). You state that your floor joists are running parralel to the bearing wall which indicates you have multiple bearing walls. Remember the floor system MUST go into and on a bearing wall so keep this in mind.

As stated you want to spread the load over as many floor joists as possible. I would personally get someone to look into your floor system and determine what is can safely carry as well as help you lay out any additional bearing surfaces/members needed. Usually someone at your local building supply can help run the #'s fairly easily so you're not guessing. Also if you do bring the load into the floor make sure the concrete is thick enough to handle that load. I've seen an instance where it wasn't (it was a masonry fireplace not a tank) and the floor cracked and allowed the steel post to drop which caused the upper floor to sag, rock work to crack and the list of problems kept growing. All because the concrete contractor took a couple of short cuts and short poured the floor resulting in less than standard slab thickness. Of course this is not common but you need to know what you're dealing with when you're adding a concentrated load down into the earth.

Also another suggesting in regards to making a header you can go one better... check with your local building supply there and see if they don't have some "short" LVL material. It's common they have pieces 2', 4', 6' that were cut in error and many will sell them for next to nothing or give them to you just to get rid of them (we do here at my company). They are Engineered and can be much stronger than dimensional lumber of the same size and they are very easy to work with.

Don't take short cuts when dealing with this much concentrated weight. If you place the tank in the wrong location you could be setting yourself up for a significant failure in the future.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Being a general contractor I reinforce floors or fix sagging floors all the time. I would recommend that a tank that size be placed across the floor joists. But, you can install blocking in between the floor joists and then double the joist that is under that tank. By blocking the floor joists together you are spreading the load over the entire floor.

http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4621012401520788&w=273&h=149&c=7&rs=1&pid=1.7

 

[BigAl07]

Good call MJ. Blocking/bracing really stiffens a floor up to a great degree.

 

[puffermike]

So taking a bit from what everyone has discussed I'll add more bracing for the floor joists seeing that some already exist. I'll go with a couple floor jacks and an LVL header that i'll span across both of the jacks to distribute the weight more evenly.

Currently my 110 sits parallel to the bearing beam on the outside wall in the same very room I want to put the 180. Just not right above the beam like I want the 180. Obviously the 110 would be taken down for this upgrade. Point being, there is no sagging at all with about 1400lbs of weight from this current tank but it spans across 3 floor joists. I've yet to venture past 125 though so all of your tips are much appreciated.